Safety razor blade and razor



. F. FORD Aug 23 '1932' SAFETY RAZOR BLADE AND RAZOR 1872 Filea July 8,1931 Patented AAug, 23, 1932 UNiTE-D STATES maar .FRANK roan, orcamorra, BRITISH: INDIA SAFETY nazca :BLADE am) -aAzoa Applicationill-ed July 8,` 1931. Serial VNo.' 549,484. A v

vided suiicient length of rest periodbetween It is well known thatrazors give better service if the blade after being used is given a.rest. Such a rest should'exceed one day in length, andbetter service isforth-coming 5 it the edge'has three, four or morel days rest betweeneach use.

lt is known' that safety razor bla 'es with more than 2 cutting edges,such as the blades now generally in use are provided with, have j 1obeen proposed for the purpose to allow the use of alternate edges of theblade on alternate days and thus allow the previously used ed es to restfor shorter'or longerv periods beg-ore they are again used. lt is alsoknown 15 to provide the various edges of such polygonal blades withindices to designate which edges of the blade have been used and dulled.Such blades, however, have not come into general use for the reason thatit is diiiicult for 2e the user to remember the indicia designating theedge last used and as a rule a person would not take the trouble to makearecord of or note down the edge last used so as tol Besides, thevarious kinds of polygonalY blades heretofore proposed for this purposedo not have a suicient number of alternately usable edges to provide fora suicient restV 3Q period Jor each edge to recover beforev it isV K tobe used again. Y Y A rllhe main object of this .invention is to providea polygonal razor blade of the wafer 5 type which carries indiciadesignating the successivedays of the month so that the user,

in order to determine which edge to use on any particular date, may onlyhave to know what particular day of the month itis and a not need toremember otherwise which of the edges of the blade has previously -beenused.

Another object of this invention i's to provide such a blade withasufficient number of edges and with such a method of lacing 45 withindicia thereon that there will e prosuccessive uses of the same edge.

A still further object of the invention is to provide suitable means insuch blades, in conjunction vwith suitably constructed ,holders toproperly distribute the stresses arising 1n theblade from the necessaryyclamping action,

so .as to stiien the working edge in a satis- Y factory' manner.

An object of this invention is also to pro- 55 videa holder for suchblades as above described inwhich ordinary 2 edged blades such as arenow in common use may be used inV an emergency, i. e. when the specialblades forming'the subject of this invention are not available. y

With these and other objects in view which will hereinafter appear, theinvention consists in a razor blade with multiple cutting edges providedwith indiciadesignating the successive days of the month and a suitableholder for the same. Y

lin. carrying out this invention, a razor blade o" the wafer typevwithat least 3, but preferably more, cuttlng edges is provided, havingnumbers applied to these cutting edges in various sequences, suchnumbers be- V'ing identical with the number of days in a month,preferably' from l to 31,-but it is understood that they may run fromsay i tf l5, 16 vto 3l or any other sub-division of a month, as willhereinafter be further de'- scribed.

. With the ordinary wafer blade the surface of the holder to which theblade is clamped is cambered so that when clamped in position the bladeis denied. lhis dering gives the blade as a whole an arched form, andsuch form` no doubt stife'ns up to cutting edge to a certain extent.When however the wafer used with a multiplicity of cutting edges, as ,iscontemplated according to this invent-lon,

the dome-like deformation of the wafer blade A need not be any-thinglike as pronounced as thedeformation given to the arch form of the usualtwo edged blades. Owing however to the fact that for some purposes aconsiderable deformation is or may be thought to be desirableQthi's,according to the present invention, may be realized without excessivelystressing the metal of the blade by splitting the corners or dividingthe metal of the blade at each corner for a. considerable depthextending towards the centre of the blade, so that the individual facetsor cutting edges of theblades, or the pairs of facets opposite eachother (where the number of facets is even), will act more as if stressedby being subjected to the simple bending iiexure as of the ordinary typeof blade in the said direction ratherthan being stressed as if subjectedto the dome-like lexure above referred to of the blade with mu'ltiplecutting edges.

According to the present invention the iexture of the blade may bepartially arch-like and partially dome-like depending upon the depth towhich the corners of the blade are divided. Whether the one orthe otherof these stress conditions predominates will de- Asu . While pend on theparticular form iven. It will however be realized that the t ickness ofthe wafer blade at or adjacent'to the centre of the blade may beincreased with certain advantages which may be obtained by the use of ablade which, Whilst still classed as a wafer blade, 1s thickened uptowardsthe ccentre. TheV splitting of the corners or the deep recessingof` thecorners of the multiple-edge blade thus enables a thicker bladeto be used.

The holder which I provide for these blades, preferably has a convex ordome-like surface. to which the blade is clamped by the guardor coverpart and in which apertures or notches are provided through which thedate numbers may be seen.

The razor blades according to this invention preferably have the cornersbetween `their contiguous sides removed and notches formed in thesecorners in order to4 give the cutting edges greater iexibility when benteing clamped in the holder.

When the said razor blade is triangular in shape the date numbers 1, 4,7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25and 28 may be spaced on one or on both sides ofone edge, the numbers 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 26 and 29 spaced onone or both sides of another edge, and the numbers corners of the bladesmay be cut through ,to the posltioning holes and continued at t 3 6, 9,12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27 and 30 0n the last e e.

In this case in order to avoid a multiplicity of numbers on each edgethe numbers may be divided and part placed on one side of the blade andthe rest on the other side. For example a triangular blade mayv have thedates 1, 7, 13, 19 and 2,5 on one side of one edge and 4, 10, 16, 22 and28 on the other side of the same edge, the second edge having 2, 8, 14,and 26 on the first side and 5, 11, 17, 23 and 29 on the other side,whilst the last edge has 3, 9, 15, 21 and 27 on the first side and 6,12, 18, 24 and 30 on the other side.

Where the blade is one having four sharpened edges-the dates 1, 5, 9,13, 17, 21, 25 and 29 maybe placed on one cutting edge and the votherdates 2, 6, 10, etc. 3, 7, 11, etc. and 4, 8, 12, etc. on the otherthree cutting edges.

In this case again alternate date numbers on each edge may be divided,half being on one side of the blade and the other half on the other sideof the blade.

, Where the razor blade has six cutting edges the dates 1, 7, 13, 19 and25 ma be onone edge, 2, 8, 14, etc. on the next e ge, 3, 9, 15, etc. onthe next edge, and so on.

Where the razor blade has eight cutting edges it may have the dates 1,9, 17 and 25 on one edge, 2, 10, 18 and 26 on the next edge, and so on.e

If preferred the alternate dates on any particular edge may be divided,one half being on one side of the blade along said edge, the other halfbeing on the other side of the blade. l

Where the number dates marked on a razor blade edge are divided, some ofthe dates being on one side of the blade and others on the other side,the dates on the one side may be arranged to read asa series in aclockwise manner, and those on the other side, the alternate-datesthereto, as a series in the anticlockwise manner. v Y

The razor blades according to this invention have a number ofpositioning holes provided therein, corresponding to the number of theircutting edges, and a center hole for the passage therethrough 'of thestem of the holder. The holder is provided with a corresponding numberof studs for engaging the positioning holes. The notches in the ediametrically opposite side of the holes to near the center of the bladefor the purpose of greater 'liexbility of the blade and its adaptabilityto the shape to which it is deformed .when clamped in the holder.

In the modification wherein the blade'has four cutting edges theinvention includesthe combination bf a holder with a blade with fourpositioning holes punched through the blade, the sizeof the holder andof its normal blade and the position of said positioning holes in theblade and of the positioning studs on the holder being suchthat ordinarytwo-edged blades with the standard spacing of positioning aperturestherein may, if de'- sired, be clampedA in said holder and be usedv as amake-shift if the proper blades therefor are not available.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawing, in which:- Y

Fig. 1 shows a triangular blade.

Fig. 2 a square blade.

Fio. 3 a modification of the last, giving I greater iiexibility.

Figs. 4 and 5 are hexagonal blades.

Fig.v 6 is an octagonal blade.

Figs. 7 and 8 show fragmental portions of. the holder for blades such asthose shown in Figs. 2 and 4.

Fig. 9 is a fragmental diagram showing a holder in section with guardplate and blade clamped in place.

In Fig. 1 the blade has three edges a, a', a a central stem lhole b andthree positioning holes 0,10, c.

To give iexiblity the corners are removed and notched at d, d extendfrom the corners to the holes c, 0. g

It will be noted the numerals on the edges .of the blade indicate thedates on which the particular edge should be used. Considerin edge athis edge with thel face illustrate clamped to the holder will be usedon 1st', 7th, 13th, l19th and 25th. Also on the 31st ,if the month is a3l-day one. The same edge will be used with the other side clampedagainst the holder on 4th, 10th, 16th, 22nd and 28th. Hence this edgewill be used for ten or eleven shaves, a number which a modern bladeshould be able to stand if the blade is kept clean, and has thesuggested periods of rest. It will be seen the edge a is used on thefirst of the month and rests for three days. It is then used again onthe fourth but withthe blade reversed side for side. Again it has threedays rest and is used again. And so on.

In lFig.2 a square blade is shown.

four positioning apertures c', c. These apertures'c, c may be so placedapart as to suit the positioning apertures in ordinary razor blades likethe Gillette. This spacing is so selected to enable an ordinary Gilletteblade to be used as a make-shift in the holder provided. In Fig. 2 theinner edge of an ordinary blade is indicated by thee dotted line f. Itwill be seen that the blade edge may be made to avoid the central stemb.

A. blade as vshown in lFi 2 may be found too stili' it being now usua toclamp a wafer bladetightly inthe holder so as to cause it Vex in umdirection of the 'axis A A wah the 'direction of the other axes B B. Insuch case the side edges would only be used when the blade was rotatedrelatively tothe holder through so that when in use the camher on theblade would be in the direction perpendicular tothe cutting edge.

In these various figures the date numbers on the blade are the numberson the one side ofthe blade, whilst the date numbers out-- side theblade surface re resent dates stamped on the other side of the lade'. v

Fig.'3 shows a preferred form the square blade would take. The intentionhere is to use the blade on a holder the surface of which is raised inthe middle-that is one having a convex surface Whose centre is higherthan the sides'all round. .If a thin blade such as that shown in Fig'.'2 is clamped down on such a surface and forced to take up a saucershape or flat domed-shape--the metal would offer very considerableresistance as a dome to deformation. There might be circumferentialtensions at the periphery and a. rather uncertain stress distributiondue to the de-l velopment of stresses such as are to be found in a flatdome. In Fig. 3 the full development of dome action stresses will beprevented and thel intensity of the stresses relieved by slotting ornotching the corners as tempted to cause it tov take up a saucer shape.

Fig. 5 shows a development of Fig. l Wherein the corners are notched orslotted as in Fig. 3.

Fig. 'shows an octagonal form of blade. It should be noted that in theseblades the corners should preferably be removed as indicated at l, ZinFigs. 3, 5 and 6.

In Fig. 6 some of the slots stop at the positioning hole 0 whereasothersare continued to points such ask.

In Figs. l, 2, 4 and 6 a convenient system of date numbers is shown. Itwill be seen that whereas with the square blade each edge is usedapproximately eight times, with thehexagonal blade the edge is used fivetimes, and with theoctagonal blade four times.

The edges however are progressively getting shorter so that more Work isdone with four shaves on the octagonal blade thanfin eight shaves withthe square blade.

It is important to be able` to see the date numbers on the blade whenclamped in the holder.

. The holder therefore may be notchedor apertured in any convenientmanner to expose the dateiigures.

In Fig. 7 a-vlew is shown of the near side of a holder with the bladeclamped to the further side.

This shows a square blade such as that `shown 'in Fig. 2. Theholder hasthe usual notches m, m on the edge but certain of these notches m ,m areextended'to a greater depth to expose the date numerals. 'l

This Figure 7 also shows apertures m, m. 'which may be used to exposethe date numbers to view in place of the deeper notches m', m.

Fig. 8 issimilar to the first part of Fig. 7 but shows the-idea appliedto a hexagonal blade holder.

Fig. 9 indicates a form of construction in which n is the holder, 0 theguard, p the stem of the guard and r a positioning stud on the holder.The blade v is stressed by bending to the curve shown.

The central portion of the bent surface of diameter s acts likea flat dome the limits of which are to -be seen dotted at s in Fig. 5. The outerparts t, t ofthe blade owing to the slotted corners are stressed in urebending.

' In Fig. 9 the dome part ta es the curve the extension of .which isshown dotted at lv whilst the outer portions of the blade are bent to asharper radius the vextension of which is shown by the dotted line fu.

It will be understood that by varying the distance to which the slots g,extend towards the centre of the blade the proportion which develops adome-like resistance and that which is merely bent downwards may bevaried as desired.

It should be noted that where in this specification reference is made todome-like stresses it does notnecessarily mean stresses such as aredeveloped in a masonry dome but to stresses which are developed in athin metal sheet or plate when it is buckled or is forced to assume asaucer-like form from its original state in which it was flat. These*stresses are very different from those develand the edges are stiffenedup by thedefor`v mation'.

blade having a lurality of cutting edges, identifying num erscorresponding to certain days of the month on said blade adjacenteachedge thereof, a Guard plate having a kplurality of teeth along itsedges, the spaces between certain adjacent teeth along the edges of saidguard plate -terminating 1n vcircular apertures to expose saididentifying numbers on the blade.

2'. A safety razor comprising a holder, a multisided blade havingindicia numbers from 1 to 31 corresponding to the days of the monthadjacent the'edges of said blade, a toothed guard having the spacesbetween adjacent teeth further indented at spaced intervals to revealsaid indicia numbers thereby to facilitate the Vsuccessive use of theledges ofthe blade upon successive days of the month.

In testimony whereof I hereto affix myV signature this 4th day of June,1931.

' ALBERT FRANK FORD.

Having now particularly described and as- I certained the nature of mysaid .invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, Ideclare that what I claim is 1. A safety razor comprising a holder, a

